Ma Hualong soon found himself playing stinky chess.

As soon as Ma Zhenggang and Ma Chaoyuan hit the road, the officers and troops stepped up their attacks on the forts around Jinji Fort.

To the south, more than 20 fortresses set up by the Hui bandits inside and outside the Han Canal were swept away by the Zhandong Lu Department one by one, and the Xuan army approached Hongle Fort, the southwest gateway of Jinji Fort.

In the north, Liu Jintang, who took over his uncle's seat, although he was a young man, he was energetic, and the old Hunan army was also very fond of the "young general" field, and the morale was not declining, Liu Jintang was consolidating the defense of Yongning Cave while capturing the Hui bandit fort from Lingzhou to Wuzhong Fort one by one, and the North Road Army finally arrived at Wuzhong Fort.

The two key caves in the north and south of Jinji Fort were held down by the officers and soldiers.

Ma Hualong is really as Zhan Donglu said, "the left branch is weak", taking care of one and losing the other, but he can't recall Ma Zhenggang and Ma Chaoyuan, who have already entered Shaanxi, so he has to grit his teeth and endure hardship while praying that Ma Zhanao in Hezhou can break through the blockade of the official army and go north to make peace with him.

Ma Zhanao and other Hui bandits in Hezhou understood that Jinjibao was the backbone of Ganhui, and if it fell and the official army moved south, Hezhou's Hui would never exist alone, so they fought desperately to the north, Liu Dian led his troops to intercept, and the two sides fought in the Weiyuan area, and the battle was very fierce.

Ma Hualong saw the return of Hezhou, and he really couldn't rush through, so he had to turn his head to look east, hoping that Ma Zhenggang and Ma Chaoyuan's two departments would make some big moves in Shaanxi, even if they couldn't force Zuo Zongtang to withdraw his troops, at least he had to force him to divide his troops and return to help, which would somewhat reduce the pressure on Jinjibao.

However, Ma Zhenggang and Ma Chaoyuan's lives are not much better than him.

The officers and troops of Shaanxi and Gansu are indeed as Ma Wanchun said. Most of them have entered Gansu. Not many stayed in Shaanxi. But these local troops in Shaanxi. After Guan Zhuofan was pacified, he sent people to rectify it, with high morale and excellent equipment, which should not be insulted.

In addition, although there are not many officers and soldiers, there are many militia groups. Most of these militia groups were formed after Guan Zhuofan was pacified. Many people have a blood feud with the Hui bandits, and when they see the Hui bandits, their eyes are red, and they see the war with the Hui bandits, and they don't let the officials and soldiers go to the fierce places.

Ma Zhenggang and Ma Chaoyuan entered Shaanxi, ran into walls everywhere, their heads were bleeding, and they could not meet at Ganquan as originally planned. Not to mention the "eastward attack on Hancheng and Jawyang".

Moreover, the supply of grain and grass will soon be exhausted. I grabbed it, but I couldn't grab much, so I quickly became hungry. Later, these two bandits were chased by the officials, troops, and militia groups, and their losses became bigger and bigger, and their numbers became smaller and smaller.

In the end, Ma Zhenggang and Ma Chaoyuan couldn't get along in Shaanxi, so they had to withdraw to Gansu.

However, at this time, they found that there was no going back to Jinji Fort.

The officers and troops have launched a large-scale attack on Jinji Fort.

The Xuan army first conquered Hongle Fort.

The resistance of Hongle Fort was extremely fierce, and when the fort was broken, the bandits in the fort lit fires everywhere in the fort, and then they stabbed their dependents, and then took off their shirts, and shouted shirtlessly, and rushed towards the officers and soldiers. Many of the elderly, weak, women and children who did not die under the swords of their relatives would rather throw themselves into the fire than surrender. In the whole of Hongle Fort, there are almost no dead children.

After the war, Hongle Fort was broken and ruined, and it was a scorched earth.

Most of the casualties of the Xuan army in the Battle of Honglebao occurred after the capture of Honglebao, and moreover, they exceeded the total casualties after entering Gan and before the Battle of Honglebao.

The fall of Honglebao and the fierceness of the battle greatly shook the fighting spirit of the defenders of Wuzhongbao. On the second day of the Battle of Honglebao, the Northern Route Army conquered Wuzhong Fort.

The Golden Forts have finally become a lonely fort.

Ma Hualong has been operating Jinji Fort for decades, inside and outside the fort, the walls are vertical and horizontal, and the fort is set in the fort, taking care of each other, advancing and retreating, and the end is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Not to mention anything else, just talk about the fortress wall: four feet high, three feet thick, and can be lined up, driven, and walked on the top -- this perverted thickness is enough to make up for the defects of the non-masonry construction of the fortress wall, even if it is a Napoleonic cannon, it is probably impossible to collapse.

By the standards of the time, this gold fort could be regarded as "impregnable".

The officers and troops did not immediately launch an attack on Jinji Fort, but did three things first.

First, the thousands of shops outside the Jinji Fort were burned down. For several days, the entire castle was enveloped in flames and smoke.

Second, open the sluice gates and release water. As mentioned earlier, the topography of this place and the water volume of the Qin and Han canals were not enough to cover the Jinji Fort to cover the disaster, but the water in the fort was knee-high, and the Jinji Fort became a big yellow mud pond.

Third, the officers and soldiers around the Jinji Fort, dug two deep trenches, one zhang deep, three zhang wide, and built a protective wall about a zhang high on the edge of the trench, the trench was half a mile to three miles away from the outer wall of the Jinji Fort, and the Jinji Fort was completely "locked", and the people outside could not enter, and the people inside could not get out.

The officers and troops were stationed along the trench sections, Zhan Donglu was stationed in the south and southwest, Lei Zhengwan was stationed in the west, Liu Jintang was stationed in the north and northeast, and Tao Maolin was stationed in the east.

Fourth, after the deep trench, the officers and soldiers built several high forts, and along the slope, pulled up the Napoleonic cannons one by one, so that the entire Jinji Fort entered the Napoleonic cannon firing range, and the fort wall was more than four zhang high and three zhang thick, which could not block the solid and flowering shells of Napoleon's cannons.

Before the start of the formal attack, the artillery of the Xuan army, if there was nothing to do, went to the fort to fire a few cannons, and soon, the bandits in the fort did not dare to walk straight when they went out during the day.

Of course, there is nothing safe about staying in the house. From time to time, a cannon flew in, the house collapsed and the fire started, and a terrible cry came from the collapsed house.

Ma Hualong and the bandit leaders did not dare to continue to live in their big house - the target was too conspicuous.

The officers and soldiers let out their words: Before the general attack was launched, the bandits in the fort were returned, and if they paid the money and lost sincerity, there was still a glimmer of life; Once the general attack was launched, the entire Jinji Fort was burned with jade, and the people in the fort, regardless of men, women, and children, had no physiology.

Under the pressure of a series of actions by the officials and soldiers, the psychological defense line of the Hui bandits finally collapsed.

The first to lead the troops to surrender was Ma Wanchun.

Ma Hualong, who received the report, was silent and said in a silent voice: "Let him go-don't have to stop him." ”

Everyone looked at each other.

The second to lead his troops to surrender was Chen Lin.

The hearts of the people are scattered.

The Hui in the Golden Fort, one of the three has gone.

The day before the general offensive was launched, Zuo Zongtang was meeting with the generals to finalize the details of the next day's operation. ”

Everyone turned their heads in unison.

Zuo Zongtang's eyes gave off a compelling light: "How many people came?" Are the Ma Reverse father and son themselves among them? ”

"Back to Dashuai, there are only two people, that is, Ma Hualong's father and son themselves."

Zuo Zongtang couldn't help but say "hey".

The generals were quite surprised, and a thought couldn't help but turn in their minds: This person has guts!

*(To be continued......)